1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to convergence devices, and more particularly, to a system providing configurable channel related information with respect to broadcast channels provided by a personal computer/television (xe2x80x9cPC/TVxe2x80x9d) convergence device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A PC/TV convergence device is a fully functional computer integrated with television functionality, providing television (TV) viewing (via broadcast, cable, Digital Satellite, or other broadcast media) and personal computing functionalities. This convergence of computer and television functionalities provides a user with combined access to television programs and computer applications and Internet information.
Typically a PC/TV convergence device consists of a fully functional computer including fax/modems, CD-ROM players, and media storage such as hard drives and floppy drives. The computer is interfaced with a monitor, with the television""s NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) interlaced signal being converted to a scan video graphics adapter (VGA) signal or the computers scan VGA signal being converted to an NTSC interlaced signal. Because the PC/TV convergence device is controlled by the computer""s operating system, the PC/TV convergence device can, among other things, display PC applications and TV programs on a single monitor. The convergence of personal computer and television functionalities into a single device also permits the utilization of the communications bandwidth, mass storage and graphics of the computer to deliver, store and display applications during a traditional television viewing environment.
The PC/TV convergence device is a user interactive device. For example, if a user is watching a television program, the PC/TV convergence device will enable the user to download information about that particular program, such as from a web site where additional information about or related to the program might be located.
Existing televisions and devices containing display functionalities normally have a variety of identifiers, many of them visual, associated with the device. For example, televisions include channel sets through which a user may enter a particular channel number and then the television is tuned to a particular frequency band associated with that number identifier. This number may also be displayed on the screen of the television as the user presses it on some type of controller. A user may also scan in particular channels such that only certain channels actually provided by a local broadcast system, such as antenna or cable, are displayed to a user. Furthermore, the user may select between various options when viewing channels such as having closed captioning, providing stereo or mono capabilities, etc. However, each of these various functionalities are either in an active or inactive mode and thus are or are not associated with each of the channels.
Thus, the various capabilities and functionalities of the identifiers and functionalities associated with a particular channel or group of channels is fairly limited. Particular functionalities associated with the channels must be associated with the channels in an all or nothing basis. No system exists to enable a user to individual program channel behavior such that each channel may have unique operating characteristics associated with it that are independent of the operating characteristics of other channels.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing and other problems with a system providing channel server functionalities. In a preferred embodiment, the system is associated with an integrated personal computer and television functionalities. A database, stored within a memory of the integrated personal computer or television functionalities contains a master list of broadcast channels. Each broadcast channel has a variety of selectively programmable data associated therewith defining the behavior of the broadcast channels independently of other broadcast channels.
This master list of channels is further subdivided into list of channels associated with a particular broadcast type (e.g., NTSC cable, NTSC broadcasts, etc.) and may be further subdivided into groupings associated with a particular user, for example, a user""s favorite channels. Each of the channels within the master channel list includes customizable parameters and data associated therewith. The customizable parameters and data enable a user to dynamically control various system functionalities on a channel-by-channel basis. Thus a user could have a particular logo associated with, for example, the broadcast band represented by channel 8, such that the user could access this broadcast band by entering the identifier A, B, C rather than channel 8. Furthermore, this channel could be designated as always providing closed caption services, stereo audio capabilities or secondary audio programming (SAP).
Associated with the database are user actuatable functionalities responsive to input from the personal computer functionalities for selectively programming the selectively programmable data. Through these functionalities, a user is able to set the various data and parameters associated with a particular channel or tuner to achieve desired behavior. Examples of these functionalities include, means for adding, deleting or modifying channels on particular lists, means for associating particular user selectable identifiers with a channel or list of channels or any other identifier associated with the television or PC functionalities, means for notifying a user of changes in channels and means for scanning in new channels from a newly added or reconfigured broadcast type.